Looking for feedback on our plan (first level), thank you!
8 years ago
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First Post - Looking for Feedback on Floor Plan
Comments (24)Your floorplan is very similar to ours. It looks like yours is designed for a more formal lifestyle, but other than that, it's the same basic concept. :) We have a much more casual lifestyle (no paid staff, unfortunately) so my responses are based on MY lifestyle. If your lifestyle is different, you take take my comments with a grain of salt. FIRST FLOOR (1) Will you actually dine in the dining room? Who is the cook in your house? Does he/she enjoy carrying hot dishes 28 feet across the house? Even if you have household staff who cook and serve your meals, it's quite the distance. (2) Your pantry is not easily accessible from the kitchen. Will the cook in your house be okay carrying food/appliances 21 feet from the pantry to the island on a regular basis? Will your kids put their cereal boxes back in the pantry, or will they be left out on the counter due to the 42 foot march back/forth to the pantry? (3) Ensure your garage is wide/deep enough for your needs. Our current garage is about the same dimensions as yours and it is a nightmare for two cars, plus garbage/recycling bins and some tools. Once we added the baby stroller into the mix, we pretty much want to throw things every time we navigate our garage. (4) I envy your screened porch. What a delightful space that will be!!! (5) Do you play billiards often enough to justify having a dedicated space for it on your first floor? We don't play billiards, but I would keep this room because it would make a great play room for children! SECOND FLOOR (6) Of the two bathroom options, I prefer the "optional" one. I hate corner bath tubs because they are a pain in the butt to clean. (Again, we don't have paid staff. If we had a maid I would probably have a different opinion.) (7) The master closet door placement makes it difficult to place furniture in the master bedroom. I see only two walls (one for a bed, one for a dresser). If you plan on keeping most of your clothes in the closets, I think this isn't a big deal, just something to think about. (We are minimalists and keep all of our clothes in the closet, so a dresser isn't a priority.) (8) I'm confused about the Bedroom 3 bed and layout. Is that a nook for a dormer window? Is the bed one of those L-shaped bunk beds? (9) I personally wouldn't want a bathroom for every single bedroom in the house, mostly because I hate cleaning toilets. Even if they are not used, I hate cleaning them because my least favorite thing to clean is dusting around the base (which gets dirty whether it is used or not). Again, I don't have a maid...I'm sure having a maid would change my perspective. :) You don't say much about your family make-up, but based on your floorplan, I would assume that your household consists of one man, one woman, 2 teenaged/adult children living at home, and a part-time maid/cook....See MoreLooking for feedback on my first Ikea kitchen plan.
Comments (20)A designated corner cabinet won't be a problem. Ikea has two, one has a bi-fold door, covering both sides of the corner, and the other has a built-in filler. The problem occurs when you put something with a protruding handle (like an oven or dishwasher) right in a corner where there's a drawer stack on the other side. Here's an example: This one actually has clearance, barely. It's got a filler between the drawer and corner, and a set of drawers between the corner and oven (or dishwasher, or whatever.) This can even happen on a smaller scale, if you don't have any filler... just the protruding handles can stick out enough to make them collide. I'm familiar enough with the planner that I don't pay attention anymore, and I don't remember exactly what it says, but I think that it gives you a specific message when it triggers an issue. It should tell you what the problem is....See MoreLooking for feedback/tips/ideas on our floor plan
Comments (13)Do you have any ideas or suggestions to get more natural light? Generally, there 2 important considerations for flooding a home with pleasant natural light: (1) the directions that most of the windows face, and (2) how deep/fat the house is. For starters, it's great that you seem to have land that encourages a home with mostly north/south windows. :-) Southern light is great for living spaces, because it's nice and bright for most of the day, without being glaring (east at dawn; west at dusk). Now, because I'm in Texas, lol, I'd want my garage on the *west* side, to block all the heat, but in y'all's case, having it on the *east* side may help facilitate the melting of snow on the driveway, right? If that's true, and if you have the space on your lot, I'd consider a side-load garage/driveway. Otherwise, a north-facing driveway may take f.o.r.e.v.e.r. for snow to melt. :-D (Or so I imagine... Never lived in a snowy climate as an adult. Or, maybe since it's on the NE corner, it may get enough light from the east side...?) Secondly, creating a home that's only 1-2 rooms deep allows you to have windows on 2 (or maybe even 3) sides of some rooms. That is *huge* for making a space feel great, allowing for sunshine coming from 2 sides, as well as cross-breeze opportunities. Another advantage to a home that's only 1-2 rooms deep is a simpler/less expensive roof. Win-win, right there, lol. These are just two of the dozens (hundreds?) of things to think about when designing a house. I'm currently reading "Patterns of Home" by Jacobson, Silverstein, and Winslow, and *dang* you would not believe everything that goes into good design. I'm reading it for recreation as well as education, and it's creating a greater appreciation for my architect, to be honest. :-D...See MoreLooking for feedback on our home plan!
Comments (75)@Sophia I just build a house that is what I call "senior real" (easy to get around, minimize falling), including the bathroom. Your architectural plan quite makes me dizzy, so I'll focus on just a few areas. 1. The first thing I noticed was how difficult it will be to be on a Zoom meeting in the Computer nook while another occupant is practicing the clarinet in the Music Room. Eeeeek! (literally, if you're just learning). 2. Guest (downstairs) suite; swap the bathroom and closet. Do not, under any conditions, put the toilet into a booth. Consider how you have to get in one of those; you have to kind of back in. To wipe, you have to kind of turn around squeezed in with your back to the door. Flush, then turn around again in a tight space. And suppose there has to be a helper? And how are you going to fit grab bars in there? Don't do it! My bathroom is ADA compliant (5' wheelchair turning radius), and it has a barn door. I know designers on here don't like barn doors for bathrooms, but the bathroom door in your suite only goes to the bedroom, not to the living room or anything like that. I can't tell you how genius this barn door is! The best thing I ever decided! It rolls right open with barely a flick of my finger. No going in through a door and then closing it behind me (since I'm solo, half the time I don't bother closing it, even) and then doing that in reverse. I have an extra air circulation boost right outside the bathroom. I hit it when I'm done. The house gets a new batch of air. I have a wall-mount sink. Very plain. I had all the walls in the bathroom reinforced, so if I want, I can put grab bars wherever. For some reason, I LOVE my sink. (It's Kohler); I think maybe because it's large, much larger than I could have in a vanity. You can get special valves on the shower to keep it from putting out scalding water The toilet for a bathroom like that would be elongated and "comfort height" (which I hate, but most Americans like). I have a curbless shower; no tub. Tubs are too risky. What you don't hear about curbless showers is how easy they are to clean. At the end of the day, when it's dried out, I can vacuum it lol. I could use a vacuum steamer in there if I wanted. Because I'm on a budget, I have cork floors. It turns out, I love them. My feet never get cold in the bathroom. And having rugs down is a tripping risk, so that's important. For a little bit of luxe, I've added a towel warmer (it also gave me more wall space to hang towels). If I'd had the budget, I would have tried to get one of those plumbed towel warmers because they warm up the space significantly, and bathrooms with a 5' turning radius might seem a little drafty. Elderly folks might really appreciate this. -the granny-suite closet should be reach-in. It's too hard to turn around in a walk-in. General, and most of these items will have insignificant cost: -When you choose windows, make sure someone in a chair can see out. I can sit on my couch and enjoy view and critters (actually from everywhere in the house except above my bed where I need privacy). In case someone is confined to bed, make sure they can see out from the bed. -All the doorways on the bottom floor of the house should be extra wide. Mine are 36". -In the home he built for his elderly father, my builder put deep-ish chair rails at hand height along the corridors and needed walls spaces. These are wide enough to steady someone, or let them grip for a moment; but really, they just look like chair rails. -lower all the light switches. There's an ADA standard. -all the exterior doors should be extra wide -wood floors; use area rugs for now, remove the area rugs if tripping is an issue. -Light switches should be rockers, not flip switches. -Put electric sockets higher than standard, so you can plug things in without crawling around. -If elderly folks will be using a microwave, make sure you have one low down so they don't end up with hot soup in their face. -use levers instead of twisty doorknobs -use c-shaped pulls in the kitchen instead of any kind of knob (arthritis can make knobs and switches very difficult) -put lights EVERYWHERE. I have maybe two extra in the bathroom, including over the shower, so I don't get disoriented. I added an additional 6 Ikea floor and table lamps of various descriptions in about half (aka 300 sq feet) of my house. My eyes don't work the way they used to, and I need light. -put in extra electric sockets. You'll need them for night lights, towel warmers, CPAP, lamps, lamps, and lamps, electronics, humidifier.... -extra exterior lights, so pathways are very visible -the kitchen should have a place where someone can mix cookies (or prepare a salad or whatever) while sitting (not on a high stool). -I actually had my wall cabinets lowered so I can see into all the shelves -except for my bed and couch, I can easily move my furniture around so I can set things up however I want. I have a groovy footstool for my aging tootsies, and I have a couple of nifty carts that I can pull to wherever I want. All my furnishings are super flexible and adaptable in configuration to whatever my needs in a particular moment. I can easily make room for a wheelchair, if I have a guest with one. -any faucet handle(s) should be the single lever variety; no twisty taps, left and right; besides, the levered faucets are much more practical for virus minimization, since they can be worked with an elbow or wrist -my CERV (air exchanger) can be fitted with MERV-13 filters. They remove viral particles (COVID! Flu! Pneumonia!) I hope this helps! It seems to be only about 1/3 of the nifty little features I had built into the house, so if you have questions, let me know. I tried to think of EVERYTHING, but all is a variant of standard. No extra cost....See MoreRelated Professionals
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